Escaping Your Destiny
by StaraLaura
Summary: It's not easy being the most popular girl in school, having a hot boyfriend, and being loved by everyone. And trust me, Bijou Ribon knows and she's going to have to give it all up to escape this life that has no life in it.
1. Nightmares Come True

Disclaimer: I don't own Hamtaro or any of its characters. And that goes for ALL of my Hamtaro stories and chapters.

Chapter 1:

Nightmares Come True

Bijou Ribon awoke from the warm covers of her bed to the sweet scent of bacon and eggs whipping the air above her. She slowly opened her eyes to the sunlight filling her room, bouncing off her mirror and trinkets surrounding the young human-ham. Bijou hastily got up, thinking about her dream.

In her own slumber land, Bijou was surrounded by her servants each one handing her different treats or delicacies that France had to offer to their European beauty queen. It had been so bright right then and everything was perfect. Bijou had been overwhelmed by so much of croissants and French bread, that she had yelled at all of them, causing them to flee into the darkness and to leave the girl all alone. Then, the room that she was in had grown cold and dark, almost making Bijou cry at the overwhelming loneliness and discomfort. It made her frightened…no, terrified to think of what was waiting if Bijou hadn't woken up from the red eyes glaring at her, piercing her joints and bones from head to toe as the creature emerged from the shadows.

Bijou shook her head, her white hair flopping against her cheek as she unwrapped the covers from her crystal blue satin nightgown. Right now, her hair wasn't in her usual pigtails, but was put messily down. Bijou didn't care, trying to get the nightmare off of her mind. What had it meant?

Bijou shrugged it off, trying not to think about it. Sure, the dreams and nightmares came true in the movies, but not in real life. She giggled to herself for being so stupid and got ready for breakfast, her nose twitching in delight as she smelled the warm pancakes and croissants.

It was funny because Bijou had always twitched her nose when she smelled something good or was excited for something. Her mother really hated her daughter's habit, but it was something that couldn't be stopped even after five trips to the physiologist and three to the pediatrician. Although, the pediatrician part didn't make any sense whatsoever to Bijou since she was already fifteen and going to a children's doctor. Then again, her mother and father always wanted her to act like a child and be their little "Ribon Princess".

"Princess!" Bijou had just finished tying half of her snowy hair in a short pigtail when she heard the sudden, but expected call from her father. She smiled as she slowly trotted downstairs to see three people standing in the enormous dining room. No one entered the kitchen often since the cooks and servants were usually in there.

"Good morning, Bijou," her mother greeted. Bijou's mother looked exactly like Bijou except she had pink eyes instead of Bijou's sapphire ones that were from her father and his black hair. Her parents were already dressed and were smiling broadly as they stood next to the third person.

Bijou could feel her stomach tighten and lips curl into a smile as she looked at her boyfriend. He had light blond hair that waved in different directions. The right directions, though. He wore a nice tuxedo for a special occasion today that showed off his muscles that Bijou had noticed that he tried to do every day. And the smile. Oh. My. God. The smile was absolutely, positively, without a doubt, something that Bijou would kill for to see every second of the day. His teeth shown like the light bouncing off a full moon and his lips were perfectly shaped and curved in such a way that only a god could. Bijou couldn't tell which was better. The smile or those hypnotizing sea-green eyes that made Bijou's eyes look like mold.

"Happy Birzday, Princess," her boyfriend said in a little bit of a French accent without looking away from Bijou. Bijou started to blush massively as he handed her a bouquet of gorgeous indigo roses that were placed carefully into place.

"Merci, Beauregard," Bijou sighed happily as she smelled the roses. Her own French accent was much thicker than Beauregard. Her soul mate. The wind beneath her wings. Her one true love. Her own prince on a white horse. Her-

"Well, I have to get going. I don't want to miss work," Beauregard said and kissed Bijou on the forehead before being dismissed.

"Au revoir," Bijou said, almost out of breath as she tried to make sure that she was still conscious from the kiss. It happened so often to her that she didn't know how she could actually keep up with him.

"Well, 'appy sixteenth birzday," Bijou's dad said before the phone rang. Bijou smiled at him before he yelled, "Curtis! Bring me the phone!"

A young man approached the family with a cordless phone in his hands that was ringing like crazy and was finally handed to Mr. Ribon.

"Uh, 'ello?" Mr. Ribon said into the phone. He waited for a while and Bijou and Mrs. Ribon strained to hear the faint sounds from the speaker, but couldn't make out a word from it. Finally, the two girls gave up and just waited for the only man in the family to tell the anticipated people of the room what was going on as his face paled and his knuckles shook. Bijou was afraid after two minutes of her father not speaking that she yelled out, "Vhat iz eet?!"

Her mother gave her a dark look and scolded, "Bijou! You know better zhan to make an outburst like zhat!"

The pigtailed girl looked down and quietly apologized, her head spinning of what could actually happen. This day _had _to be perfect. Almost as perfect as her at least! Bijou tried to shake herself out of the silly thought, but it just stuck to her like a stamp to an envelope. Coming from Bijou, she could break a nail if she tried to get it off and damage her nice French tips while doing it, darn it. So it just stuck as Bijou watched in horror at the reply.

"Okay. Okay. Zhank you for telling me. Yes, I'll see you soon. Buh-bye."

Immediately after pressing the button to end the conversation, Mr. Ribon steadied himself into a chair and heaved in deep breathes as the servant, Curtis, brought himself back into the room and quickly exited with the phone in his hands.

"Vhat 'appened?" Mrs. Ribon questioned. Her husband looked at her and inhaled an incredibly large amount of air as he finally said.

"Pack up. We're going to Tokyo, Japan."

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"Happy birthday to me!

Even though it's not 'til next month!

But Happy Birthday to Hamtaro!

Happy Birthday to me!"

Hamtaro Haruna was happily skipping to school, something that he always managed to do, no matter how rainy or windy it was. Right now, it was chilly at about 50 degrees with huge gusts of wind that could make the young sixteen year old look like more a three year old counting the information that he fell down with every blast of air shoving in his face and down his throat. In the confusion of every passerby, he just jumped back onto his orange and white sneakers and started going back to his business, trotting around the place singing random songs to cheer others up.

His appearance scared others too. He had messy hair that was naturally white on the left side and a bright orange on the other. His crystal blue eyes seared everyone with the amazing cluelessness in his big heart and he always wore the same design of an outfit everyday. He always had on a shirt that had no sleeves and blue jeans with the same sneakers and everyday no matter what, he would wear an orange wristband that said "Adventure" and another white wristband that said "Fun". These phrases all matched his name and everyone in Tokyo knew it. Hamtaro was the one who always helped out and would do anything for a friend in need. If only he wasn't so stupid sometimes…

As he approached the school, he found that nobody was to be found. Thinking that his watch that read 7:06 was broken, he rushed inside as fast as his little legs could carry them. Hamtaro broke in through the doors toward his homeroom class to find that he was the first student in. _Phew, what a…relief? _Hamtaro thought before seeing a young girl with a head full of think, white hair tied into two pigtails that each had a dark blue ribbon. She had on a blue miniskirt with a white turtleneck and knee-high boots.

"Heke?" The words escaped Hamtaro's mouth before he knew it. The girl just glared at the orange haired boy in front of her and whipped back to the teacher.

"So, I hope that you'll be happy here, Bijou," the teacher said to Bijou who was twirling her ponytail viciously from the tension as the strange boy who was behind her didn't move a muscle. That is, if he actually _had_ a muscle. He was just skin and bones compared to Beauregard. It worried her to find out that she had come to this country to see these kind of people.

"You may choose a seat that doesn't have a red sticker on the desk." Bijou only nodded as she looked for a sticker-less desk, only to find the last one in the corner of the room that had no window or door to distract her from boredom. It was awful. Japan was awful. And especially the boy who just kept staring at her.

"Hamtaro, get to your seat," the teacher demanded. By the sound of it, Bijou could tell that this Hamtaro person was either 1) a complete dimwit 2) a clueless idiot or 3) both. Bijou assumed that it had to be 3.

Hamtaro moved into his seat, somewhat scared of this new girl. She had not smiled once and didn't look grateful at all to be in this place. _But school is the best place in the world! _Hamtaro thought. (AN: You have so much to learn Hamtaro. So much to learn.)

Bijou quickly sat in her blue chair that was… ATTACHED TO THE DESK?! How could a chair be attached to the freakn' desk?! _In France, I 'ave never 'eard (heard) of such a zhing! Vhat eez zis world coming to? _Bijou furiously thought as she laid her head on the desk and covered her hair up with her jacket. This was off to such a bad start. She glanced up to see the multi-colored boy was nowhere to be found to her shock. To see that the teacher was busily working, Bijou slowly got up and left the room, curious to find where the weird boy went.

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Hamtaro glugged down the water as fast as he could to make sure that he could race back to the room to greet the new girl. He always felt like helping a newcomer out, even if this girl didn't even smile once at him. _You can never judge an orange by its skin. Wait, did I mess that up?_

Before Hamtaro could think it through, he heard running feet coming from the end of the hallway. Without swallowing the enormous amount of water stored in his cheeks, which actually made him look like a hamster who just stuffed its cheeks with seeds, Hamtaro ran towards the running sound until-

_WHAM!!!_ Hamtaro was flung backwards, spitting out all of the liquid to the person in front of him. Before he knew it, there was a huge shriek that made Hamtaro jump at the sound. He looked in front of him to see the new girl rubbing her eyes where Hamtaro had spit at her.

"SACRE BLEU! MON DIEU! QU'EST-CE QUE C'EST!? LOOK VHAT YOU 'AVE DONE TO MY 'AIR!!!" Bijou screamed.

Hamtaro turned to his head to the side as he said, "Your 'air'?"

"MY 'AIR, YOU _SABOTEUR! _MY 'AIR!' "Bijou screeched. Hamtaro was still clueless and remained silent, trying to figure out this strange person and Bijou slammed her fist on the floor in frustration.

"ZUT ALORS! ZUT ALORS! _ZUT ALORS!_" Bijou yelled into Hamtaro's ears, nearly deafening the poor kid who had no clue what was happening.

"Are you French?" Hamtaro suddenly asked, remember the movie "Ratatouille". Hey, even teenagers can watch kid's shows, right?

"FLER DE L'ETRE! FRENCH AND PROUD TO BE SO!" Bijou howled.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I ran into you and messed up your air," Hamtaro quickly said, forgetting that this girl was French and said "air".

"JE M'EN FOUS! JE M'EN FOUS!" Bijou bawled.

"Heke? What does that mean?"

"MON DIER, SABOTEUR, YOU DO NOT VANT TO KNOW."

Hamtaro covered his ears and asked politely, "Could you please stop yelling?"

"QUELLE HORREUR! VHAT A HORRIBLE ZHING! I'M YELLING AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW VHY! QUEL DOMMAGE! VHAT A PITY!"

And with that, Bijou ran off to find the bathroom to fix her "air", leaving young Hamtaro behind on his…well, behind. He placed his arms on his knees and thought for a long time.

"I think I did well that time!" Hamtaro cheered.

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OMG! I thought that was the freakn' funniest chapter of my life. Okay, I'll translate for you guys! (Bijou's such a bad girl for saying this stuff!)

Sacre bleu: Oh, Blue!

Mon Dieu: My, God

Qu'est-ce que c'est: What is this?

Saboteur: one who causes great sabotage

Zut alors: Darn it all

Fler de l'etre: French and proud to be so

Je M'en Fous: I don't give a damn/fuck (Isn't Bijou so bad on using this on innocent Hamtaro?)

Quelle horreur: What a horrible thing!

Quel Dommage: What a pity!

And I'll tell you what Bijou's boyfriend means later on, ok? I thought that it fit pretty well.

R&R, peeps!


	2. A Life in Hell

Hey, everyone! A special thanks to Dolphin Goddess 17 for betaing and doing a great job of it!

ANYWAY, on with the chapter!

P.S: Even though it is July, this school system starts a little soon, if you know what you mean.

All the students in the story: NOOOO!!!

Hamtaro: How the heke could you make us go to school so early!?

Bijou: Vhat 'e said!

(Hits all students in the head with my iMac computer.)

*laughs nervously*

On with the chapter!

…

…I said, ON WITH THE CHAPTER! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!

Hamtaro: CHARACTER ABUSE!!! CHARACTER ABUSE!

Me: SHUT UP!

Hamtaro: SHE DOESN'T EVEN OWN ME OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN HAMTARO. THAT'S STEALING! THAT PLA-PLA…

Me: Plagiarism?

Hamtaro: YEAH!

Me: rolls eyes

Me: On with the chapter! And Hamtaro, plagiarism is only if you copy something word for word.

Hamtaro: … SO???!!!

Chapter 2:

A Life in Hell

Bijou furiously grabbed at her bangs and quickly stripped them of all signs of saliva from the boy that she had just flipped off in French as she ran around the corner. How could he do this to her?! She just moved from France, halfway across the world if he didn't know what the country was, and he just spat his backwash in her hair!? And then he just acted as if he made a new friend! _More like an enemy, _Bijou thought as she took a quick glance at her pigtails before leaving.

"Zis country is zee worst I 'ave ever been to," Bijou muttered angrily as she exited the bathroom to see the school alive with people strolling along and chatting loudly with friends. There were people everywhere, making Bijou feel sick. The last time she was in a crowded place, she ended up in the hospital with her family completely crowding her bed a second later it felt like. Bijou always got freaked out when there were so many people around her. It wasn't a cause of claustrophobia, it was simply because she usually made a fool out of herself and the thought of embarrassment killed her. However, this was understandable, for Bijou had been home schooled her entire life and never had much time out of the house except for going out with her boyfriend. It scared her parents, what with the whole nose-twitching issue going on, but they never said a word. They wanted people to view their daughter as a perfect, beautiful angel and Bijou had no complaints about it.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Bijou whipped around to see a girl standing before her. The girl had long, dirty blond hair and golden eyes that melted with her complexion like honey. She had on a pink, plaid dress that reached the top of her knees with a mini white apron tied on her, making her look much younger than she really was. This person also had on pink flip-flops and a pink scarf wrapped around her neck. She clutched her binders to her chest and a had nice white bag draped on her forearm. She was a pretty girl, Bijou had to admit, almost as cute as Bijou herself.

"Oui- I mean, yes. I am vine," Bijou said meekly without trying to reveal her French background and further- her accent. She didn't want the girl to think that she was soft or needed assistance because of her origin or else she suspected the girl would go around school yapping to everyone that Bijou was from the other side of the world.

"Oh, you just look peachy, is all. Are you new?" the girl asked politely with a smile. She had braces and Bijou wasn't surprised to see that they were pink, but they were still charming.

"Uh, yes." Bijou strained her throat not to reveal the accent. She had to be perfect in this place before it got any worse.

"Cool. Where were you before?" she asked. _Mon, Dieu, does she 'ave to ask so many questions?_ Bijou asked to herself.

"Uh, Osaka?" The pigtailed girl had to lie. No one could know of her coming from France. They would make fun of her and she knew it.

"Really? It kind of sounds like you have this accent. But, I wouldn't really know. Anyway, my name is Pashmina." The girl extended her hand out to Bijou, who reluctantly took it and shook. She recoiled her arm and tried to make her way through the crowd only to see that this Pashmina person kept following her to her homeroom.

"Uh, can I 'elp- I mean h-h-help you?" Bijou asked Pashmina, doing her best to sound as if she was a normal Japanese girl.

"This is my homeroom, silly!" Pashmina giggled. Bijou gave a little nod and hurried in. Before she knew it, Pashmina would ask:

"What's your name?"

_Am I a psychic or vhat?_ Bijou thought, knowing her prediction came true. _Should 'ave saw zat coming…_

"Uh, Francis?" Bijou hated to lie to this girl, but after all, Pashmina was halfway stalking her. But, before Pashmina could say anything else, the bell rang and school started.

The class went on forever and it was just announcements. The French girl rested her head on the desk and almost slapped herself for agreeing to move to Japan. It was no place for a fragile girl who loved the Eiffel Tower as an everyday sight from her window and had an expensive and elegant lifestyle. Japan was everything but this. It was filled with these weird looking people who laughed and played, not thinking of how much they were angering the approaching teacher, causing Bijou to get in trouble at least two times this morning. The boy who never properly introduced himself and had spat on Bijou intruded her personal bubble five times every hour while a boy named Oxnard kept offering her sunflower seeds. Never before had Bijou ever heard of such seeds, but once she put one in her mouth, she had no idea how to eat it. Was it just to suck on or something? Bijou wasn't certain, so she just swallowed it; making the entire class laugh at her as she choked and the boy, who angered her before, tried the Heimlich maneuver. Now, all that was left before lunch was gym class and Pashmina was busily chatting with Bijou on how classes ran and what they were doing in gym.

Pashmina babbled, "Well, since it's a Friday, it's always dodge ball day. You know, dodge ball isn't exactly my sport and some people take it too seriously so it makes the game even worse. I guess if you stay by the wall, you wouldn't get hurt-"

" 'Urt?" Bijou squeaked, completely forgetting her French accent. Since when was there a sport that you could get hurt in?

"Duh, that's the entire point of dodge ball! You try and hit the other team with a ball. Don't tell me you never played," Pashmina gasped, obviously shocked at Bijou's stupidity.

"Uh, of course! I know zee- I mean, t-th-the dodge ball game. I play e- it all t-the time!" Bijou stuttered, choking on her own saliva as she tried to splutter out the words.

"Oh, well maybe we can be on the same team. I'm guessing that we won't wear any gym clothes today since we haven't gotten any, but I'm sure that we'll get them next week. Honestly, I look _awful _in gym clothes-"

"_I _think that you would look astonishing in any kind of clothes."

"Ah, shut yer mouth, Dexter. Pashmina would rather have compliments from me!"

"Well, I never!"

Pashmina smacked her forehead and mouthed, "Oh, no."

Then, out of nowhere, two boys ran towards Bijou and Pashmina. The first one that made it had on a light brown sweatshirt and black pants with a red apron. He also had mousy brown hair, buck teeth, and Bijou couldn't see his eyes at all. The second had on a striped collar shirt, sweater vest, and blue pants with a red bow tie in the middle of his collarbone. This boy had gray hair and blue eyes with huge glasses that were circular; something that Bijou swore only existed in the Harry Potter series.

"Oh, hey, Dexter. Hi, Howdy," Pashmina yawned, sounding incredibly bored.

"My dear Pashmina! How about a smile? Something to brighten my day, something to-"

Howdy grabbed Dexter's left ear and tugged, yelling, "The only thing to brighten your day, Dexter, would be dental floss!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Dexter shouted back, waving his hands at Howdy's in an attempt to free himself from the grasp.

"Oh, brother," Pashmina sighed as she brushed past the boys, leading Bijou over the doors that led to the gym.

"Hey, who's the new girl?" Howdy asked curiously as Dexter punched him in the shoulder. It finally occurred to Bijou that these boys didn't notice her shock.

Pashmina put a finger to her lips and winked. "I'll tell you guys at lunch, okay?"

Dexter and Howdy were left helpless as Pashmina winked at them. Then, the two went back to arguing, this time about the usual.

"That wink was obviously for me!"

"Quit yer talk, four eyes! Pashmina winked at _meh_!"

Dexter turned to Howdy in a huff as he gritted his teeth at his rival. Howdy was the only competition in his life and always ruined his moments when it came to being alone with Pashmina. For instance, at the summer festival when Dexter finally was under the stars with Pashmina and Howdy jumped out behind them, making Dexter accidentally squirt milk from his nose when Howdy kicked him. That moment, Pashmina had yanked off a "Kick Me" sign from the bow-tied boy and left. Dexter gave Howdy the worst run for his life, but it ended when Hamtaro had tripped them.

Howdy could feel a rumbling feeling grow in his throat at the person who always took something away from him: his chances to make Pashmina fall head over heels for him. Always, when Howdy would make his usual joke that was sure to make everyone groan, Dexter just _had _to think of some smart comment to make Howdy embarrassed when everyone would laugh at _him._ _It's not fair, _Howdy thought darkly as he glared at Dexter.

The two just stared menacingly at each other as Bijou and Pashmina entered the gym.

As soon as the cool air from the gym blew into Bijou's face and waved her pigtails around, she knew this was going to be hell. Everyone looked so strong in the gym as they laughed at each other. She had seen the movies and knew this was not going to be good with the position she was in. She knew that the boys would take the weak ones out first and Bijou had a strange feeling that she would actually be kicked in the butt to the stands with whatever this dodge ball was. Before she had time to think, a voice called out.

"Hey, Pashmina. Who's that?"

Bijou and Pashmina both turned around to see a gruff looking boy. Heck, to Bijou, he looked as if he was a full-grown man, maybe even a football player. The person before them had dark, messy, brown hair with black eyes. He had on a ripped, brown t-shirt and shredded blue jeans with a yellow hat on his head that a green stripe streaked across and a red crescent moon over that. Even through his burly appearance, he was grinning as if he saw the greatest looking thing in the world. Then, Bijou realized that this _boy _was staring at her.

"Hiya, Boss! This is Francis!" Pashmina was still oblivious at Bijou's real name. The entire time being called Francis made her cringe. _Vhy did I pick 'Francis'? Maybe eet just sounded like 'France'. But, out of all names…_

"Uh, that's cool." This Boss guy crinkled at the sound of the unworldly name, but Bijou couldn't care less. After all, it wasn't that bad and Bijou wouldn't mind having her name be Francis if it meant concealing her true alias.

"Your name e-e- is Boss?" Bijou asked, awestruck at the even more weird title than her pseudo name.

"Well, his real name is-" Pashmina began until Boss shot off a glare at the scarf-wearing girl, causing Pashmina to become mute.

"Don't say it. Cats, please don't say it," Boss warned, venom dripping from every word.

"What? That your real name is Sheldon?"

"What in the-"

All three turned to another to see another trio headed their way, two of which looked like mirror images of one another at first glance.. The one in the middle looked exactly like the one on the left. He had honey blond hair with bright emerald eyes and a green shirt with a white collar. He had on black pants that piled up to his lime green sneakers. The one on the left mostly like him besides the fact that this person was a girl. She had the same emerald eyes with the same honey colored hair and a short, layered ponytail in it, tied with a red ribbon. The girl had on a red tank top and white jacket with long sleeves and the bottom of it only reached in the middle of her stomach, exposing much of the tank top. She had red running shorts with white stripes vertically descending down from the top to bottom and, even with how sporty she looked, had on white flip flops. However, the one on the right looked completely opposite. He had brunette hair with layers so his bangs kept getting longer starting from his forehead and the same shade of chestnut that matched his eyes. He was wearing a solid baby blue collared shirt with a white sweater vest over it and indigo jeans. His shoes were completely black and he was tall. Even taller than Boss whom, to Bijou, seemed over six feet tall. To his side, the boy clutched a green book in his hand.

"My name is NOT Sheldon!" Boss snapped at the boy in the middle.

"I thought it was Eugene," the brunette boy thought aloud, stroking his chin in thought as he managed a faint smile, amused at the thought.

"Shut it, Maxwell or I swear that I will shove that book up your-"

"Okay, that is enough!" Pashmina ordered over the arguing and taking a stance. "Anyway, this is Maxwell, Stan, and Sandy. Maxwell, Stan, and Sandy, this is Francis. Stan and Sandy are twins just so you know. A lot of people get them mixed up, but I think it's pretty funny. Like after the time that Howdy thought that Sandy was Stan and…"

Bijou could have sworn that she almost fainted from remembering so many names as Pashmina droned on and on about Howdy's unfortunate scenario of terror about Sandy's temper breaking its boiling point. She could barely remember the people's names in front of her and now she had to remember her own name. Why did this always happen to her?! Why couldn't she just have a perfect life and live in a castle to live happily ever after with the guy of her dreams i.e. ,Beauregard. It wasn't like she actually had a purpose in life. It was already decided for her and heck, Bijou couldn't even find much of a purpose. If her life was perfect, which it always is, then there wasn't much to do but to enjoy it while it lasted.

"Okay, well, at least this new girl is hot. I mean HOT. Not much her name, but-"

Sandy whacked Stan in the back of the head as she said through clamped teeth, "I thought it was bad enough that you were a flirt. Now, you make fun of her name."

"Whoa there, sis. How would you like it if your name was- OW, LET GO OF MY HAIR!"

Sandy had almost seized a hand full of hair from Stan's scalp as she glared at the poor boy whom was red in the face either from the pain or sheer anger as he cursed under his breath, obviously meant for his twin.

"Yeah, well, we're playing dodge ball today. Girls vs. boys I think," Boss announced, trying to calm the tension in the air. As soon as he said this, Stan and Sandy both smirked at each other and did some kind of handshake that was confusing to Bijou at least before they parted onto different sides of the gym.

"Well, nice to meet you, Francis. I might as well dismiss myself before Stan pops a vein when he yells at me to get over there. Goodbye," Maxwell chuckled before strolling off towards Stan's side of the gym. Boss nodded in agreement and smiled at Bijou.

"That goes for me too. I'll see you around," Boss managed to say as he gazed into Bijou's sapphire eyes. Pashmina smiled and waved him away and Bijou copied. Pashmina walked over to Sandy. Unfortunately for Bijou, she was shaking with trepidation as her eyes bulged uneasily. She tried her best to stop sweating, but it was as if she was crying through her skin. Bijou knew she was such a coward, but she couldn't help but think of the lingering sense of danger. She wanted to stay there forever and not play this game, but the gym teacher dragged her over by Pashmina and Sandy by her shirt collar. Pashmina gave a reassuring smile that Bijou felt obliged to return. The French student turned to Sandy for a "good luck" or something, but the blonde's eyes were fixed hungrily on the center of the court that was lined with different dodge balls of neon colors. Bijou glanced at Stan who wore the same face as his twin, giving Bijou something to joke about during lunch. Oh, how she wanted to just sneak over to the door, pull it open, and run to the lunch line maybe to get a nice crepe or even a pizza like the one she had eaten in Italy on a trip to Rome. She licked her lips and couldn't help but think how crisp it was with a light cheese coating with vegetables that Bijou could only find in her dreams. The crust was a light golden brown with a nice, chewy center that-

"READY! SET! GO!"

And with that, it was all a blur to Bijou. All she saw were so many vivid colors and, just as fast as it began, it all went black.

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"Ohhhhh."'

Bijou tried to open her eyes, but it hurt too much. She wanted to see where she was and where the moaning was coming from.

"_Ohhhhhhhhhhhh…"_

"Oh, I see you're awake."

Right then, Bijou bolted her eyes open to see an entire room spinning with swirls of colors and lights shining into her eyes. She covered her face with her hands to hear the same moan.

"Wow, it must have really hurt if you still are whining like zhat."

Why the heke was that voice so familiar? Bijou once again opened her eyes to see. Instead of a light, there was a face smiling down at her. There was no mistaking that smile. It was so perfect that Bijou just smiled herself.

"Bonjour, Beauregard," Bijou greeted quietly. Beauregard quietly chuckled and then cleared his throat.

"I got here a couple of minutes ago to see zhat you were lying unconscious. Pretty bad luck, wouldn't you zay?" Beauregard said, laughing as he did so. Bijou nodded, her eyes half closed and beamed at him. He was dressed in new attire, something suited more for Japan with a light green collar shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal an even lighter green that showed off his muscles, making Bijou almost drool. But, perfect people don't drool as Bijou had always said when she was going crazy over her boyfriend. Beauregard was wearing dark denim jeans, completely changing his regal look from France. In their old country, he always appeared in a suit, ready to go with Bijou out to dinner and check the mirror every once in a while to see if his red bow tie was on straight. Bijou could tell that he always wanted to look like royalty at all times and showed off his elegance.

"Do you feel ready to go to class?" Beauregard asked politely in his light French accent while holding out a hand. Bijou grabbed at it and he helped her up while getting an approving nod from the nurse and the two walked out to see what looked like thirty people in the hallway, all pacing around. Okay, maybe it wasn't thirty people, but it was certainly enough for Bijou's knees to falter and to stumble on her boots. They were all the people that she had seen this day, the exact same. Pashmina squealed when Bijou came as Sandy followed her with Dexter and Howdy waving at her. Boss and Maxwell smiled, Boss going a little red in the face. Stan was the most interesting welcome to Bijou since he winked at her and flipped his hair, trying to show off, obviously. This made Bijou get closer to Beauregard whom frowned at her, questioning her, "Do you know them?"

Bijou jerked her head up and down, making her pigtails follow with a _whoosh_. She wanted to throw up right then, considering that she had to go back to class, to the place where the dodge balls bounced and soared. Pashmina hugged Bijou and the French girl grimaced as Sandy stared at Beauregard, her tongue hanging and eyes wide open to see such a hot guy. Pashmina backed up and nudged Sandy's ribs, which made Sandy look shamefully away with the rest laughing except Maxwell who looked as if he was about to strangle Beauregard, pure hatred imprinted in his eyes. He jabbed two fingers from his own eyes to the front part of Beauregard's nose. Bijou's boyfriend returned the evil stare, as if a spark between the two erupted and kept growing and growing. This went unnoticed by everyone since they were all looking at Bijou.

"So. Do you like Japan more than France, Bijou?" Pashmina asked, a playful grin on her face.

Bijou gasped, horrified that her secret was out and everyone now knew that she had been bluffing the entire time. How could Pashmina, out of people, know this information? Everyone gave her a heavy gaze and even Beauregard and Maxwell stopped their silent battle to look at Bijou, who was biting her lip as she looked at the ground. Pashmina crossed her arms, waiting for an answer, the simper never leaving her lips. Bijou forced a gooey wad of spit down her swollen esophagus from the pressure of telling the truth. She didn't want it to be like this! She hated Pashmina and the others with all of her heart for doing this to her. Except Beauregard, of course who had no idea that his girlfriend was lying to all these strange people.

"What's goin' on, ya'll?" Howdy asked. "Is this some kind of soap opera or what?"

He laughed a sharp hoot that sounded, to Bijou, like the shrill similar to the one her cat let out when her father stepped on its fluffy, white tail. It made her hunch her shoulders up so hard that Beauregard had to push them back down otherwise they would have just stayed locked in her joints like that for the rest of day. Everyone else gave Howdy a disapproving scowl even though Howdy was laughing so much. Then, Bijou knew what the phrase "If looks could kill" meant. Howdy's laughter immediately died out once Dexter snapped, "That one had to be your worst one, yet!"

Howdy would have knocked Dexter unconscious if it wasn't for Dexter using what he had left of his reflexes for ducking from the curled up fist. It made Boss tackle Howdy the ground, holding the scrawny country boy's wriggling wrists together in the manner a cop would with some kind of criminal. Both of their faces were a dark maroon, both breathing as hard as they could to the horror of the others standing in the room. Before anybody said anything, a student with orange and white hair ran out, looking dazed at Boss and Howdy. Everyone turned their heads to see Hamtaro running down the hall, coming to a stop before helping Boss and Howdy up. It was as if someone had slapped Bijou in the face with a fly swatter. It was the same kid that had ruined her hair earlier today.

"What has gotten into you guys?" Hamtaro asked as Boss, Dexter, and Howdy glared at him. Hamtaro crossed his arms in a surprisingly authoritative way, like a security guard at the airport.

"Well, it was all Howdy's-"

"What about me, cats-fer-brains?"

"Realizing that you could have punched me into the spirit world should-"

"That's exactly what I was aiming fer!"

"Well, you needn't have done it in front of a large crowd of people!"

"Why, you little, you smart little-"

Hamtaro pushed himself in between Dexter and Howdy, forcefully making sure that they wouldn't quarrel anymore as they usually did. Dexter and Howdy were taken aback by Hamtaro's actions, but turned to each other and went onto the other side of the room, muttering phony apologies to the others for interrupting Bijou's spotlight. Beauregard leaned in towards Bijou's ear and whispered, "Zat makes zhese Japanese people even _more _awful zhan zey really are… Are you sure zat you know zhem, Bijou?"

Bijou didn't answer. She wanted to become invisible at that very moment. She wanted to see if she could summon some of the creatures from the deepest depths of the ocean to attack all these crazy people. She wanted to control a thunderstorm and strike lightning at all of them. They were so mean to her. What had she, Bijou Ribon, the most perfect girl in the universe, done to deserve this? It was her destiny, her purpose to inherit her parent's money once they retired from being the CEOs of a huge mall in France. Once the family settled in, then Bijou would inherit the fortune, leaving her parents with about a third of their valuables. But, there was still billions of dollars in store for Bijou. She would get it when she would turn eighteen, but if she married before that (which Bijou highly doubted.), then she would get the money immediately.

Hamtaro shook his head, his orange and white bangs flopping on his forehead.

"Hams, we're supposed to know better than that! C'mon, we should really get to class. Mrs. Reinfield told me to-"

Hamtaro stopped in the middle of his sentence. His mouth parted into an 'o' as he took a quick glance at Bijou. His eyes showed pure excitement and he completely lost his seriousness as he ran up to Bijou. He waved his palm in her face as he smiled, startling the girl enough to make her fall back. Beauregard luckily caught her, glaring at Hamtaro who tilted his head to the side, confused at what he did to her.

"Is she okay?" Hamtaro asked. Beauregard tugged Bijou up and the others waited anxiously for the many awaited answers. Bijou brushed her skirt and she stared menacingly at Hamtaro, her temper getting the best of her. She strode towards him, looking calm for a moment until a sudden outburst came from her which made every person in the room jump.

"Vhat makes you zhink zhat you can just come here and ruin my first day!?" Bijou screamed, her eyes wild with chagrin making the cobalt almost turn to cardinal. "I just come 'ere and you completely rueen my virst day vor zome strange reason!"

That's when she burst into tears, her hands holding her face as she sobbed. A massive amount of tears soaked her palms. Nobody moved a muscle in fear of upsetting her further. Even Beauregard remained silent, staring blankly at his girlfriend. Hamtaro copied this same expression, but with his tilted to the side, cramming his neck to see if Bijou would stop crying. But, she didn't. The others could hear her hic-ups of sadness and her gasps, making each person jerk at the rasping sound when Bijou would choke a bit. Finally, Hamtaro couldn't take it anymore and decided to lift up Bijou's hands, the French student trying to fight him. Hamtaro wouldn't let this happen and was determined to help her even if he didn't know what he did wrong.

"Hey… You okay?" Hamtaro asked softly. Immediately, he knew that was wrong by the look in her eyes.

"Do I look alright to you?" Bijou replied, sniffling.

Hamtaro ran his hands through his hair, something he did when he was nervous or worried. It was kind of like the other ham-hams too. Oxnard would start to chew on his fingernails, Boss would play with his hat, Dexter decided to adjust his glasses, Howdy always would pluck the straps of his apron, Pashmina would be one that yanked on the end of her scarf, Maxwell rubbed his temple, and Stan and Sandy would twiddle their fingers together. Each person had their trademark when they were nervous, something that was pretty funny to others.

"Hamtaro? What happened?"

Bijou groaned from behind her shield of fingers as she looked at three more figures approaching. Hamtaro looked up giddily as Bijou wobbled on her feet, tired of the number of people that she had been around that day.

"Hey there, guys!" Hamtaro's voice shook with excitement, completely forgetting Bijou's water works show. Three boys had lined up with each other, each with a grin on their face at seeing Hamtaro. The middle one had a black, plain shirt on with a white jacket on. He had on cut-off gloves that revealed his fingers while his knuckles were covered in were covered in black leather. The boy also had a full head of black hair to match his pants and shoes. His eyes were black too and Bijou almost mistaken him to be one of those gothic kids or something like that. But, the boy gave off a radiant smile, brightening the room. The boy to his left had on a green baseball cap, his fingers gripping it. His clothes were plain and simple with a white hoodie and denim jeans with white tennis shoes with green laces that were untied. He had hazel eyes, the outside a little more green, causing them to stand out more. The last boy had on a brown collared shirt with ripped sleeves, underneath it was a sleeveless black shirt. He had ripped brown jeans, all frayed and worn. He had the strangest hair out of all of people in the room, even weirder than Hamtaro's. This boy had sandy blonde hair, but with a huge brunette Mohawk smack in the middle of his scalp. Strapped to his back was a red acoustic guitar and there was no doubt that he played. Each one wore a smile until their eyes caught on a hic-upping Bijou who whispered a quick greeting before burying her face in Beauregard's chest, starting to sob again. The three just stared blankly at her, wondering what they could have done wrong.

"Uh, I don't think I've ever seen her before," the black haired boy said. Hamtaro patted his shoulder and replied, "It's a long story."

Beauregard, out of desperation, looked at Hamtaro for support and, in his eyes, pleaded him for Bijou to stop washing his shirt with her tears. Hamtaro tapped Bijou's shoulder who shakily turned around to see the three. Hamtaro nodded at them for them to do introductions and all of them agreed. The black haired one stepped forward and said shyly,

"I'm Panda."

The one with the baseball cap smiled as he introduced himself. "And I'm Cappy!"

The one with the guitar just turned his guitar around and strummed the strings, which made everyone back up about three steps. He didn't seem to notice as he recited, "Hello, all, and might I say, I hope you have a good day. After all, when you all play, have fun, and mingle, you have no choice but to invite me, Jingle."

Beauregard, surprisingly and scaring the others, clapped his hands together, amazed at Jingle's rhyme. Jingle himself didn't look very easy at this, not getting much recognition from the others. Bijou softly gasped as Beauregard said, "Zhat was amazing! Tell me, 'ow do you make zuch poetry?"

Jingle just shrugged, completely forgetting to act 'mystical' and 'mysterious' while his eyes just stared at Beauregard. When Beauregard looked away to glance at his girlfriend, Jingle started to back up towards Cappy who just moved away from the poet. Hamtaro clapped his hands together and yelled, "AND I'M HAMTARO!"

Every person clasped their hands over their ears from the terribly boisterous shout as a terrified Dexter fell over from the sudden outburst. Then, as predicted, Howdy started to bust out laughing. Then Dexter grabbed his ankle and dragged him down. This started many mini fights, but it went unrecognized as Hamtaro turned to Bijou. "What's your name? And his?"

Bijou wished the day would just come to an end at this point. She supposed things couldn't get any worse. That is, until Pashmina quickly said, "They're exchange students."

Hamtaro brought his hand to his chin, stroking it and pondering. He waited for a minute before saying, "So they exchange stuff?"

Pashmina swatted her forehead in pure frustration at Hamtaro's cluelessness.

"Ah, man. You've got to be kidding me!" Stan cried out, mimicking Pashmina's tortured expression.

"Kid, it means that they're not from here," Boss explained, trying to make it as simple as he could, using hand gestures as he did so. Hamtaro scrunched up his face in thought before he opened his mouth again. "So, I'm an exchange student because I moved here three years ago, right?"

Howdy shook his head in disappointment while Dexter shouted, "It means that they came from a different country!"

Bijou fell back, blushing as she did so. Beauregard still was a little puzzled by the drama, but held Bijou's hand as she wiped away her last tear. She didn't want to get into this at all. Maybe, if she grabbed Beauregard and made a run for it…

"Does that mean that the ice cream man can take you here?" Hamtaro questioned. Bijou was lost in where the conversation was leading to. Every person groaned and Bijou, suddenly gathering up her courage, clarified,

"I am from France, okay?"

It was as if someone knocked Hamtaro in the head with one of Panda's hammers in the carpenter's backpack. Hamtaro's face lit up, alive with discovery and oddly, knowledge. He snapped his fingers and he said in his ecstasy, "Oh, yeah! You told me you were French! Thank sunflower seeds for Ratatouille!"

Now, the tables were turned as everyone else in the room had a blank stare creased on their faces, showing true confusion at Hamtaro's statement. Hamtaro crossed his arms proudly as Bijou shook her head, ready to go into tears.

"Zis is serious! I just vant to go on vith my life! Just- Just leave me alone, you… you… _Saboteur!_" Bijou screamed with complete anger. She broke the handhold from Beauregard and darted out of sight, Beauregard shooting a stern glare at Hamtaro before running after her. Every ham-ham watched them run, all looking a little dazed at how quickly things had happened. Everyone stared accusingly at Hamtaro, who looked shocked at their glares.

"What? I didn't spit on her that much!"


End file.
